22It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22,23

2 “This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: 3 ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ Jeremiah 33:2-3

The Lord speaks to me in waves, that crash through whatever issue I am dealing with. As the wave recedes, it takes with it much of the junk I’ve gathered as a woman who often tries to fix things on her own. What is left is a smooth, pristine surface… for a little while anyway 🙂

I have been dealing with several issues — the most pressing being the progression of my multiple sclerosis. I deal so well sometimes but other times I fall apart. I had the first good night’s sleep in a while last night. I woke up this morning refreshed physically. The Lord spoke through my clear mind to remind me of the two passages I quoted… even in the fog of physical issues, if I remember to call on the Lord, He WILL show me things that are great and that I do not even know of yet. Also, his MERCIES are NEW each morning!! Praise the Lord for these sweet promises.

I am going to design a piece of art that includes a verse about “new mercies each morning!”

I was praying for someone last night. Because I didn’t know the whole situation, I was listening to the Holy Spirit for guidance on how to pray.

My prayer became, “make her an instrument of your peace.”

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
when there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand,
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying [to ourselves] that we are born to eternal life.

I was looking for a recipe that included lemon and dried cranberries.This recipe is a combination of several I found.They make great Valentine’s Day cookies because of the color of the dried cranberries.

Cream together the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy.Beat in egg, corn syrup and lemon juice/zest.Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder.Fold in dried cranberries.Chill in the refrigerator at least one hour (I don’t usually chill that long).

Okay, we’ve established that I have MS and recently it has been kicking my butt. But… (haha) now it has my world spinning–and not in a cute merry-go-round way!

On Monday I was off work and started “finding my house” after the weekend. At noon, I started feeling very nauseated and was throwing up. I thought I had a virus. I didn’t, I don’t.

In MS, these symptoms are caused by damage to areas that coordinate perception and response to visual and spatial information by damage to the pons region of the brainstem where the acoustic cranial nerve (CNV111) arises. CN VIII divides to serve both the acoustic and balance (vestibular) functions of the ear, and it is the balance portion of this nerve that is implicated in vertigo. Vertigo can also be caused by lesions in the cerebellum.

The best response to this is to be calm and not panic. Of course, I panicked and it took me until Wednesday to begin to work through this new chapter! Today is Thursday and I haven’t lost my cookies yet today!! Yay!

I appreciate the words of encouragement I’ve received and especially for your prayers! Libby directed me to Psalm 13… Verse 6 says, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.”

I will figure this out and move forward from it. I cannot sleep at night so I’m spending the time in prayer. Eventually I will need sleep, but prayer is a good thing too!

I have a doctor appointment scheduled for next Tuesday and hopefully he can help me 🙂

I am including a picture of one of my paintings. I start to list my blessings when I am sick and painting is one of them!